Helping Your Heart with Food

You already are certain that you have to have a healthy heart. Think about it: if your heart isn’t fit then the rest of you won’t be healthy. You already know that getting regular exercise and following a healthy lifestyle both factor greatly into the overall health of your heart. But did you know that there are a number of foods that have been proven to help you improve the health of your heart? Keep reading to find out which foods are beneficial for your heart.

Beans, believe it or not, are very good for the health of your heart. Sure, the after-effects of eating beans may not be the best for your nose, but they are so healthy for you. This doesn’t mean that the simple act of eating beans will counterbalance the effects of other bad foods you might be eating. What this means is that substituting in edamame or kidney beans for the chicken on your green salad or consuming a soy burger in place of the hamburger is what you need to do. The good news is that beans taste good–good enough that you are likely to not miss the beef or chicken.

Blueberries are fantastic for your heart. Blueberries are loaded with antioxidants, particularly pterostilbene. Pterostilbene acts much like the resveratrol you will find in grapes. This particular antioxidant helps the body be better at processing cholesterol and fats. The easier it is for your body to process fat and cholesterol, the less likely it is for those things to build up in your arteries and cause problems for your heart. That means that it helps keep your heart as healthy as possible.

Fish is one of the healthiest meats out there. You probably already know this as you’ve probably been told to see to it that you eat fish at least two times a week. This is especially true for those with heart problems or are worrying that their hearts aren’t healthy. Fish is loaded with Omega 3’s which work to process cholesterol and turn it into healthy energy. Try to include fish in two meals each week.

Remember when your mom and dad would say to you that an apple a day keeps the doctor away? The truth is that apples have plenty of good stuff in them to help keep your heart healthy. They have lots of soluble fiber which acts sort of like a scrub brush on your artery walls so that cholesterol can’t take hold and build up into blockages. A single Red Delicious apple each day can make your bad cholesterol levels drop by as much as 8 percent! That’s a great number if you’re working to make your heart healthy!

There are plenty of foods that you can include in your diet that are great for your body. It’s true that each of the food discussed in this article can help your body in numerous ways. They are essentially terrific, though, for promoting a healthy heart. Begin incorporating these heart-healthy in your diet each day. Your heart is going to be much better if you do!